High school football: No. 1 IMG Academy makes final statement with decisive 41-6 win over TRU Prep Academy

The final statement made Friday by IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) looked much like the previous seven during a trying 2020 high school football season. The Ascenders were dominant once more, especially running back Kaytron Allen, during a 41-6 home win over TRU Prep Academy (Miami Gardens, Fla.) in the opener of the GEICO High School Bowl Series doubleheader on ESPNU.

Minus starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, absent for unspecified reasons, the nation's No. 1 team relied on its stellar defense and the strong legs of Allen, who rushed 14 times for 245 yards and five touchdowns as the Ascenders finished 8-0 under first-year coach Bobby Acosta.

They capped a brief, but impressive, season that included notable wins over No. 7 Duncanville (Texas) and No. 15 Northwestern (Miami). Other victories came over Edgewater (Orlando), Ravenwood (Tennessee) and Venice (Florida). IMG Academy outscored its eight opponents 381-82.

"We've been through a lot of adversity just getting through the season," Acosta said. "But this senior group is a special one. They wanted this. This is the outcome. They really produced."

The Ascenders definitely missed the Michigan-bound McCarthy, one of the nation's top signal callers, failing three times to score in the red zone.

But a defense chock full of FBS prospects had more than enough to slow down the impressive, but mistake-prone, Saints (5-2), who were twice intercepted in the end zone, including one late in the fourth quarter by Markevious Brown.

Allen, a shifty, fleet and strong 6-foot, 215-pounder, then punctuated the victory and likely national championship season with his second touchdown run of more than 50 yards in the fourth quarter, a 53-yarder in the final two minutes. Allen scored on other runs of 49, 3 and 2 yards. Quarterback Jack Woche, filling in for McCarthy, added a one-yard TD sneak.

"I did this for my brothers," Allen told the ESPNU audience after.

Said Acosta of Allen: "I can't wait to work with him again next season."

TRU Prep Academy (5-2), a first-year program formed after University (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had its season canceled due to COVID-19, gained a lot of yards between the 20s.

The Saints' only touchdown came late in the third quarter on an 11-yard pass from Nicholas Vattiato to an impressive Brandon Inniss, one of the top sophomores in the country. Defensive tackle Jeremy Acosta also shined for TRU Prep with five tackles for loss against one of the nation's top offensive lines.